Cooperative synchronization control for agents with control delays: A synchronizing region approach

This paper investigates multi-agent system synchronization in the presence of control signal delays. Agents are assumed to be identical linear time-invariant systems, interacting on a directed graph topology, all having the same control delay. Distributed control of multi-agent systems is complicated by the fact that the communication graph topology interplays with single-agent dynamics. Here a design method based on a synchronizing region is given that decouples the design of local feedback gains from the detailed properties of graph topology. Such extension of the synchronizing region concept to agents with delays is rigorously justified. Delay-dependent synchronizing region is defined and methods are given guaranteeing its estimates. Qualitative properties of delay-dependent synchronizing regions and implications for control design are discussed. It is found that these regions are inherently bounded which restricts the graphs that allow for synchronization under delayed communication. Stronger property of exponential stability with a prescribed convergence rate is presented as a special case.